


A Shadow Falls

by Jane Elliot (JaneElliot)



Series: After the Void [4]
Category: StarCraft (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 07:43:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneElliot/pseuds/Jane%20Elliot
Summary: Old friends and new threats.





	A Shadow Falls

"Hello, Matt."  
  
Jim pressed his lips together to keep from laughing as Matt started in surprise, nearly toppling his absurdly large desk chair over in the process.  It was a little less funny when Jim found himself staring down the barrel of a gun a second later.  "No need for that.  It's me."  
  
Matt didn't look convinced.  Warily, he pushed his chair back and stood up, moving around the equally massive desk.  "Jim Raynor's been dead for years."  He gestured with his gun.  "Put your hands up."  
  
Jim sighed and raised his hands.  He suspected he was immune to bullets these days, but there was no point in agitating Matt more than necessary.  "I went _missing_ years ago.  Don't tell me someone found a body."

"We didn't need a body.  Jim wouldn't have just disappeared.  Not without telling me where he was going."

"To be fair, she didn't give me the chance."

The gun wavered.  "She?"

"Who do you think?"

The gun lowered several inches.  "She's still alive?"

Jim scowled and lowered his hands.  "She's alive, Matt.  She's immortal."

"Dream come true?" Matt asked sardonically.

"Actually, it's fucking awful.  Though she's taking it better than I am."

"What, you're immortal, too?"

"Until I'm ready to die."  Jim eyed the gun, which was still pointing in his direction, albeit not very well aimed.  "Shoot me, if it'll make you feel better."

Matt rubbed a hand over his face and dropped the gun.  "Fuck it.  Anything that can appear in the middle of my office without raising an alarm is probably not something I can kill with a bullet."

"Huh.  And here I thought you guys were buddy-buddy with the Protoss these days.  They aren't willing to share their warp technology?"

"Actually, they did.  Along with shielding technology that prevents anyone from warping into a space that's off-limits."  He looked at Jim pointedly.

"I don't know exactly how Sarah moves us around, but I'm pretty sure you can't keep her out with a shield."

"At least she causes less destruction getting in these days."  Matt looked around the office.  "Is she here?"

"No," Jim said.  It was mostly true.  Technically, Sarah could be multiple places at once.  Potentially she could be _every_ place at once.  Something to do with quantum mechanics and that whole omniscient God thing.  That said, the best protection that the world had was that Sarah mostly didn't give a shit about anyone other than Jim and maybe, in a general sense, the Zerg.  She cared enough about this conversation that she was probably listening in, but not enough to pull her physically away from her current pet project on Drakken IV.  "So you believe I am who I say I am?"

"Well, you're enough of an asshole to be Jim," Matt said. 

"Why thank you, Matt," Jim said with a shit-eating grin.

"Though if you are him, you haven't aged a day."  Matt's eyes narrowed and he took a step closer.  "Actually, you look a little younger."

Jim rolled his eyes.  "Sarah thinks she's being subtle.  Best I can tell, I'm where I was in my mid-thirties."

"Prime of your life."  Matt grimaced.  "Must be nice."

Jim looked at the streaks of silver in Matt's hair and the faint lines etching into the skin at the corners of his eyes.  "Sure," he finally said, though it wasn't strictly true.  Jim had never been someone wishing to reclaim his youth.  All of his regrets had been about the people he lost along the way.  "Listen, Matt, this isn't just a visit."

Matt immediately stood a little straighter.  "Something's wrong."  It wasn't a question.

Jim hesitated.  He and Sarah had debated for days over the best way to break this news to Matt.  In none of those scenarios did Matt not actually believe Jim was who he said he was.  "Do you remember our first mission together?"

Matt's eyes narrowed.  "Of course I do.  Do _you_?"

"Orna III," Jim said, letting his tone turn it into a dare.

"With Kerrigan," Matt said, because everyone on the planet knew who Jim's partner was back then.  "What was the mission?"

"We were rescuing scientists and test subjects from the Confederacy."

Matt looked a little surprised.  "That's right."  He narrowed his eyes.  "What do you know about Mira Han?"

"She's your wife."

"Everyone on the Hyperion knew that."

"Did everyone know that she folded with three queens and you won with a pair of twos?"

Matt's eyes widened.  "Holy shit.  I never told anyone that, except--"

"Except me."

"Jim?"

"Yeah, Matt, it's me."

Matt abruptly lunged forward and Jim found himself on the receiving end of a very awkward hug.

"Uh..."  Jim patted Matt on the back.  "Good to see you, too."

"Sorry."  Matt stepped back, looking a little embarrassed.  "It's just... we all thought you were _dead_."

"I know."  Jim let out a breath.  "I'm sorry about that, man.  I had to make a choice."

Matt smiled sadly.  "You don't have to explain.  Even when Kerrigan was mowing down the Dominion army, you still loved her."

"Well, to be fair, we weren't very happy with the Dominion, either."

Matt just looked at him.

"Yeah, yeah," Jim said.  "I'm not ashamed of loving her."

"Good thing she saved the universe, though," Matt said mildly.  "Otherwise, I might be a bit hung up over the millions of people she killed."

"Most of those were when she was being mind-controlled by Amon."

"Most."

"Yeah, but--"

"Jim?  Stop while you're behind."

"Fair enough."  Jim took a deep breath.  "Have you heard anything from the Brontes system lately?"

Matt froze.  "How did you know about that?"

Jim sighed.  He'd hoped that Sarah was wrong.  He should have known better.  "I don't know everything.  Just that there's something out there.  Something new."

Matt eyed him for several seconds before twisting around and pulling a data tablet off his desk.  "We got the first report a week ago.  The scientists on Brontes II stumbled on some sort of new creature, unlike anything they'd ever seen before.  Apparently it isn't entirely corporeal."

"From what Sarah and I can figure out, it's not entirely of this universe.  Do you remember the shadows we fought in the Void?"

"Of course," Matt said.  "But those were fully corporeal.  Other than the way they looked, it wasn't any different than fighting Zerg or Protoss or even other Terrans."

"That's because Amon gave them substance when he created them out of Void energies.  We're not sure what these are, exactly, but they seem to be created from the same energies, only without Amon's influence."  Matt looked stunned, so Jim continued, "It may be nothing.  If they stay incorporeal, it's probably not a big deal."

"Jim... we got the first message from Brontes II a week ago.  Three days ago, we lost all contact with the Brontes system.  All four planets are just... it's like they're gone."

It was like a punch to the gut.  He'd known there was a possibility of danger.  But four planets gone?  In _four days_?  "Shit."

"I've been trying not to jump to any conclusions," Matt said.  "We've got a couple of science vessels heading that way to see if they can pick up any signs of life.  Still..."

"Still, it's not a good sign," Jim said grimly.

They contemplated the possibilities in silence.  Most of the ones Jim came up with were awful.

"Jim... can Kerrigan--"

"No," Jim said, cutting him off.  "I mean, she probably _could_ , but she won't.  Unless the universe is at stake, she's not going to interfere."

"But people are dying!"

"I know."  Jim shook his head.  "You've got to understand, Matt, being the Queen of Blades wasn't just something that happened to her.  It was _part_ of her.  In some ways, it's the most _important_ part of her.  She truly believes that the mortal races have to learn to fight their own battles.  She believes that's the only way they'll get stronger."

"Like she did."

"Can you really say she's wrong?" Jim asked.  "You know what happened to the Xel'Naga.  Even gods can fall if they get too complacent."

Matt let out a irritated huff of air.  "So what was the point of coming here, if you're not going to do anything?"

" _Sarah's_ not going to do anything," Jim said.  "But I'm not cut out for sitting on the sidelines.  Where can you use me?"

Matt eyed him warily.  "As Jim Raynor?"

"Jim Raynor's dead, remember?"  Off Matt's skeptical look, he added, "I'll look different, but I'll have the same knowledge and the same skills.  And I can't die.  So where can you use me?"

Matt cursed under his breath, but gestured to a chair opposite his desk.  "Sit down.  We have some planning to do."

As Jim sat, he heard Sarah's voice in his mind.  _So Brontes has gone dark?_

_No one likes an "I told you so"._

He could feel her amusement, though it contrasted unpleasantly with his anxiety.  _Don't worry, Jim.  It'll all be okay._

_Easy for you to say._

_It's easy for me to say because it's true.  They have you._

Jim ducked his head as Matt pulled up some files on his data tablet.  _Thanks for the vote of confidence, darlin', but I'm not a miracle worker._

 _I am_ , Sarah said. _And if you need me, I will come._

"Okay," Matt said.  "Here's the report."

Jim took it, his anxieties being replaced by a steely calm.  This was just another threat.  After Amon, there was nothing he and Matt couldn't beat.

A waft of affection brushed over his mind and Jim sent back his love.  _It might be a while before I see you again_.

_I love you, too, Jim.  See you soon._

Jim swallowed hard and focused his attention on the data tablet. 

Time to go to war.


End file.
